20 actors who have been in Game of Thrones AND Doctor Who

Iain Glen

The man who plays the seriously unlucky-in-love Jorah Mormont also appeared in early Matt Smith two-parter The Time Of Angels and Flesh And Stone as religious soldier Father Octavian. In both shows he demonstrates an unswerving loyalty and rugged appeal. Neither characters are exactly great thinkers, but you root for them all the same.

Thomas Brodie-Sangster

Brodie-Sangster also appeared in the Human Nature / Family Of Blood Doctor Who two-parter, alongside Harry Lloyd. He played Tim Latimer the plucky youngster who finds the Doctor's Chameleon Arch and is harassed by Baines. In Game Of Thrones he plays Jojen, one half of the mysterious Reed siblings, who help young Bran Stark on his journey to find the three-eyed raven. You can see why he's got one of those faces that just looks mysterious and possibly magical.

Lucian Msamati

Pirate-lord Salladhor Saan is an ally to Stannis Baratheon in Game Of Thrones, but he soon legs it after Stannis' defeat at the Blackwater in season two. He's shown up a couple of time since and has a friendly, if tense, relationship with Ser Davos. In Doctor Who Msamati played Guido in the Matt Smith adventure, The Vampires Of Venice a heroic sort, who helps the Doctor, but ends up paying the ultimate price...

Tobias Menzies

Menzies plays Edmure Tully the crap shot who singularly fails to set fire to the funeral boat his father is resting in. After the Red Wedding the poor fella is taken captive by Walder Frey, where he presumably currently resides. He's due to reappear in season six. In Doctor Who Menzies played the Russian Lieutenant Stepashin in the Mark Gatiss-penned "Cold War", and a colleague of Liam Cunningham's Captain Zhukov, making that whole episode a real treat for Thrones fans.

Ian Hanmore

Hanmore definitely has a knack for playing sinister characters. He was the evil ninja monk, Father Angelo in Doctor Who's Tooth And Claw and he played the extremely creepy Pyat Pree in Thrones - a warlock from Qarth and a member of The Thirteen. He met him comeuppance, however, when he opposed Daenerys and was roasted alive by one of her dragons. Ouch!

Dame Diana Rigg

Dame Diana made a real impact when she blasted onto screens in Game Of Thrones season three as the deadly Lady Olenna Tyrell. With her plans, schemes and wicked tongue she's one of the canniest players in the game and was partially behind the assassination of King Joffrey. She starred in the 2013 Doctor Who episode The Crimson Horror (another episode penned by Mark Gatiss) as the villainous Mrs Gillyflower. She was joined on screen by her daughter, Rachael Stirling. And of course we'll always treasure her performance as Emma Peel in The Avengers.

Struan Rodger

We haven't seen much of Rodger in Game Of Thrones yet he appeared briefly in the climactic season four episode "The Children" as the personification of the three-eyed raven (basically a spooky old man who lives in a tree) but that storyline was paused for season five. He'll be back next year. In Doctor Who he voiced the Face Of Boe in David Tennant episodes, New Earth and Gridlock. Boe, you may remember, is the massive rubber head in a tank that may just be the final form of John Barrowman.

Tony Way

Way has a brief but memorable role as Dontos Hollard in Thrones - the unlucky knight who is made a fool of by arsehole boy king, Joffrey. He goes on the run, but meets a sticky end after foolishly trusting Littlefinger. In Doctor Who he played Alf a similarly ill-fated civilian who is murdered by the Half-Face Man in Peter Capaldi's first adventure, Deep Breath.

Ben Crompton

Dolorous Edd is well known as a member of the Night's Watch and a valuable ally to Jon Snow in Game Of Thrones. He's been with him through thick and thin and even survived attack from the Wildlings. Actor Ben Crompton fared less well in Doctor Who. He played the ill-fated Ross in last year's uber-dark "Into The Dalek", where he was killed by Dalek antibodies.

Robert Pugh

Pugh plays Craster, the loathsome member of the Free Folk that Jon Snow comes to hate. Lording it over a large group of daughters and wives, he is known to leave male babies out in the frozen wastes for the White Walkers to take. Charming. Happily, he gets a knife through the throat in season three. Pugh also played the rather more loveable Tony in the middling Matt Smith two-parter The Hungry Earth / Cold Blood".

Will Salmon
Comics Editor

Will Salmon is the Comics Editor for GamesRadar/Newsarama. He has been writing about comics, film, TV, and music for more than 15 years, which is quite a long time if you stop and think about it. At Future he has previously launched scary movie magazine Horrorville, relaunched Comic Heroes, and has written for every issue of SFX magazine for over a decade. He sometimes feels very old, like Guy Pearce in Prometheus. His music writing has appeared in The Quietus, MOJO, Electronic Sound, Clash, and loads of other places and he runs the micro-label Modern Aviation, which puts out experimental music on cassette tape.